UN Forum on Forests: Abu Jinapor advocates increased forest finance

Ghana’s Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has made a clarion call to world leaders for increased financing of forests action, to tackle the triple planetary crises of climate change.

Speaking at the 19th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, Mr Jinapor said the capacity of forests in combating the triplet planetary crises called for an urgent re-examination of forest financing options to stimulate investment efforts towards achieving globally agreed goals on forests, climate change and biodiversity.

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is a functional Commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established in 2000 to promote the management, conservation, and sustainable development of all types of forests.

It is also to strengthen long-term political commitment towards the goals.

The Forum is comprised of all the UN Member States, and meets annually to assess the progress of work, adopt decisions, and make commitments towards achieving its objectives.

The 19th Session of the Forum began on May 6, 2024, and is undertaking a mid-term review of the implementation of the International Arrangements on Forests.

On Thursday, May 09, the Forum held a High-Level Ministerial Segment and Forest Partnership Dialogue on the theme: “Forest-Based Solutions to the Triple Planetary Crises: A Focus on People, Science and Technology”.

Addressing the Forum, Mr. Jinapor decried the continuous destruction of global forests, despite the increasing global knowledge and understanding of environmental challenges and the potential of the forests contributing to tackling these challenges.

According to the World Resources Institute, Tropical Primary Forest loss in 2023 alone stood at 3.7 million hectares and accounted for 2.4 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

It is estimated that some US$393billion is required, annually, to save the world's forests.

While referring to those staggering statistics, Mr. Jinapor underscored the need for global leaders to take urgent and collaborative action to save the world's forests, the planet, and livelihoods of 1.6 billion people who depended on the forest resources for survival.

The Minister stated that Ghana, under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, had taken several initiatives intended to protect the forests and conservation.

Those actions included the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy, the Green Ghana Project, and the Ghana REDD+ Strategy.

Mr. Jinapor said developing countries that hosted some 45 percent of the global forests were facing enormous challenges in protecting and conserving the forest resources, particularly financial challenges.

Ghana, he said, had been expending her limited resources on sustainable forest management due to the importance the Government attached to them.

The Minister lamented the continuous default by developed nations to honour their pledges to support developing countries in sustainable forest management.

That lack of commitment, he noted, manifested in the inconsistency in carbon pricing.

“Why should the price of carbon in Europe, for example, be different from Africa, or in the Americas be different from Asia?” the Minister quizzed.

He therefore called for a comprehensive programme for incentivising local communities that depended on forests to preserve those resources.

Noting that the world would benefit more from forest conservation than the gains those communities would make.

The Forum ends on Saturday, May 11, 2024, and will adopt a Declaration and several resolutions aimed at promoting sustainable forest management.

GNA